Harley Quinn: Villain of the Year #1: Welcome Ladies and Genocides

As a fan of Harley Quinn, I don’t subscribe to the notion of over-saturation for the character in recent years. She has gained quite a large following and DC has responded to that fandom with a generous serving of awesome content. For fans today, everything from Humphries ongoing comic to the badass animated series from DC Universe is full of great stories about Harley that are truly worthwhile.

Unfortunately, Harley Quinn: Villain of the Year #1 is not one of them.

Attached alongside an already inflated lineup of titles for the epic Year of the Villain event at DC Comics, this story pays homage to all of the villains you know and love (and some you don’t) with a very stereotypical awards show. It works for what the issue is attempting to accomplish, which is trying to find at least some way of bringing such a huge and improbable cast together, but it ultimately falls flat in telling an engaging story. The homages to DC lore both current and old are appreciated but not enough to make the issue substantially worthwhile.

The art isn’t groundbreaking, but there are some redeeming qualities like Harley’s fashion changes and a few impressive splash pages. However, there are also awkward panels like Red Hood’s strangely shaped head. The visuals fall pretty much in line with the story, good but not great. Although, Dave Sharpe does once again stand out with a keen understanding of quality letters to accent Harley Quinn’s unique dialogue.

With the inclusion of Flamingo, you know this isn’t a book that is to be taken all too seriously. Even then, the jokes just don’t land like they should and it ultimately just feels like another big event tie-in issue that simply didn’t pan out. And that’s okay. Not every issue will. It is a bit ironic that Harley Quinn was attached to it considering the themes explored recently in the ongoing series about mandated crossover events though.

Those who are fans of Harley Quinn might find some enjoyable moments in this issue, but it’s just not one that I’ll be revisiting soon.